2010-11 Competition Year in Review: Slopestyle

2009-10 Slopestyle Competition Year In Review

The first event of the 2010-11 year opened up with Australian Russ Henshaw taking the win. The biggest story was that Henshaw used back-to-back double corks (rightside and leftside), the first time this had ever happened in competition.

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NZ Open highlights

Men:1) Russ Henshaw
2) Bobby Brown
3) Gus Kenworthy

Women:1) Kim Lamarre
2) Anna Segal
3) Megan Gunning

Interesting fact: Russ' rightside and leftside double corks opened up the door for the rest of the field, the rest of the year.

Like the Superpipe competitors, the weather for slopestyle finals was riddled with wind and snow. But it was time for Alexis Godbout to come out of nowhere to take down favorites Bobby Brown and Sammy Carlson, using his rightside kangaroo flip and switch misty's to get the job done. Taking advantage of a field without Kaya Turski, Ashley Battersby put her nose to the grindstone and got it done, ending with a stylish 180.

L-r: Bobby Brown, Alexis Godbout, Sammy Carlson

Men:1) Alexis Godbout
2) Bobby Brown
3) Sammy Carlson

Women:1) Ashley Battersby
2) Keri Herman
3) Jess Warll

Interesting fact: Household name Russ Henshaw had to qualify out of the Open Qualifiers, odd for an X-Games caliber competitor. But he made it and ended up 5th.

The North Face has dropped into freeskiing pretty hard. Signing big name athletes like Tom Wallisch and Mike Riddle, and then hosting a two-stop open series. And the Northstar stop had a special prize, the highest finishing athlete that wasn't yet invited to Winter X Games 15, would get a bid. And on the slopestyle, it was a brother/sister duo that brought home the two X invites. Chris and Devin Logan each won their respective gender divisions to secure the prizes. I'm sure Mom and Dad were proud.

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Chris Logan's winning run.

Men:1) Chris Logan
2) LJ Strenio
3) Nick Goepper

Women:1) Devin Logan
2) Anna Segal
3) Maude Raymond

Interesting fact: Chris and Devin are the first siblings to win at a single event. The duo of Peter and Megan Olenick have come close.

After suffering a bad crash in practice and braving frigid temps all week, Bobby Brown and his both-ways double flips took down the 1st place spot. Breck stop winner Alexis Godbout was injured in practice for finals while youngster Nick Goepper took the both-ways double flip approach to reach his first podium. With this win, Bobby takes a stranglehold on the Dew Cup standings.

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Bobby Brown talks about his big win in Killington.

Men:

1) Bobby Brown
2) Elias Ambühl
3) Nick Goepper

Interesting fact: Alex Schlopy was first to drop in finals. However the camera men were not ready for him and missed half of his run. The judges judge off of the tv cameras, therefore they could not properly judge him. He was awarded a re-run which he fell on. However, in the end, Schlopy landed his final fun and finished in 4th.

With 2010's meteoric rise of Bobby Brown, all eyes were on him. And for good reason, Young Brown had podium-ed at three events already. But it just wasn't Bobby's day as he took 4th. But it was all Sammy Carlson's day. Three double flips (including one rightside) and creatively gnarly rails boosted Sammy's first run score high enough where no one could touch it. Not 2nd place Russ Henshaw, not 3rd place Andreas Håtveit. Not anyone.

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Sammy Carlson's gold medal run.

The women's field once again felt Kaya Turski's domination. After sitting out the first Dew due to injury, Kaya came to Aspen with a run that was hot fire. She narrowly beat out Keri Herman for the top spot, with Grete Eliassen holding of Ashley Battersby on her final run to take another bronze medal.

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Kaya Turski's gold medal run.

Men:1) Sammy Carlson
2) Russ Henshaw
3) Andreas Håtveit

Women:1) Kaya Turski
2) Keri Herman
3) Grete Eliassen

Interesting fact: Both Sammy Carlson and Andreas Håtveit have won gold, silver and bronze at X Games Slopestyle competitions. This was the first medal for Russ. Kaya Turski has won gold and bronze while Grete Eliassen has won silver and bronze (in slopestyle, she owns gold in Superpipe as well).

Immediately after X Games, the competitors traveled a snowy six hours to Park City, Utah, the site of the FIS World Championships, the first to include Slopestyle and halfpipe. Unlike the Superpipe competitors, the Slopestyle skiers were greeted with sunny yet frigid temperatures. But that didn't stop Alex Schlopy from continuing his winning train from the weekend before. Young Schlopy and his switch 1260 to double cork 1260 combo made him the first ever FIS Slopestyle World Champion.

In the fourth consecutive weekend of competition, the competitors headed to sunny Snowbasin, UT for the final stop of the Winter Dew Tour. Here Alex Schlopy continued his win streak with his switch 1440 helping him take the win. Russ Henshaw grabbed his third consecutive podium with a 3rd place finish and Bobby Brown took the overall Dew Cup. And after a brief stint off the top of the podium, Kaya Turski regained her form to take the top spot on the women's side.

Alex Schlopy with his first 1st place Dew Trophy.

Men:1) Alex Schlopy
2) Joss Christensen
3) Russ Henshaw

Women:1) Kaya Turski
2) Devin Logan
3) Anna Segal

Interesting fact: This stop of the Dew Tour featured the first ever LCQ, where a small number of men vied for a couple last spots in semi-finals. Joss Christensen won said LCQs, won the semi-finals and ended up 2nd. Another fact, Bobby Brown had a victory lap for the Dew Cup, but not a victory lap for the event. His pre-second run 11th was good enough to secure the Cup, but he improved his standing at Snowbasin to 4th place.

A depleted field (due to the Dew Tour) didn't mean depleted action. Yes, the big guns were in Snowbasin, but that didn't stop top honors takers Tim McChesney and Kristi Johns from dropping some knowledge on the course. Hopefully the Aspen/Snowmass Open and the Winter Dew Tour won't conflict next year, but if it does, we know that plenty of action will still go down on Buttermilk.

Built within the streets of Bad Gastein, Austria, the Red Bull Playstreets has become known as one of the most exciting slopestyle events anywhere. After a one-year hiatus, Elias Ambühl unseated the two-year reigning champ Oscar Scherlin by throwing double cork 1080s on the smallest jump ever. Finnish up-and-comer Antti Ollila and back-from-injury Jossi Wells also found the podium in this head-to-head slopestyle through the city.

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Red Bull Playstreets Video highlights.

Men:

1) Elias Ambühl
2) Antti Ollila
3) Jossi Wells

Interesting fact: Bad Gastein has 5,838 inhabitants (according to Wikipedia), but over 10,000 people come to watch the event every year.

The final stop of the inaugural North Face Park and Pipe Open series closed with a nice grey day on the East Coast. Like so many other days, Waterville Valley, NH played host to a slopestyle contest, as well as wind storm. But even the ams were hardened to the worst the Northeast could throw at them, it was Chris Laker and Dara Howell who emerged victorious. For over $20,000 in cash and prizes, you'd be hucking your meat in that weather, too.

An ever growing event, the Austrian Freeski Open is one of the premiere open events in Europe, put on by Atomic. Andreas Håtveit took the win with teammate Elias Ambühl roping 2nd and Germany's Roy Kittler in 3rd. Not much to say other than a sunny, beautiful event in the heart of Austria.

L-r: Elias Ambühl, Andreas Håtveit, Roy Kittler. p: Christoph Schoech

Men:

1) Andreas Håtveit
2) Elias Ambühl
3) Roy Kittler

Interesting fact: This was the 9th iteration of the Austria Freeski Open making it a more storied event than the likes of the European Open, The Winter Dew Tour, the Aspen/Snowmass Open and many more. Only the Winter X Games have been around longer.

With a sub-par course, slow speed and falling snow, the slopestyle competitors had their work cut out for them. Fortunately for JF Houle, he was ready to take the gold. His rail-centric run bested the most talented slopestyle skiers in the World. "This is my dream, since I start skiing. At 25 I got it. I got my gold medal," exclaimed Houle. James Woods of the UK grabbed the bronze, marking the first time a skier from the UK has medaled at any X event. They were joined by Andreas Håtveit, who is well acquainted with the X Games podium.

JF Houle with his long-awaited X Games gold medal.

Kaya Turski also turned on the magic in her runs, taking her 4th consecutive X Games gold in slopestyle (Winter X 14 &15 and Winter X Europe 2010 & 2011). She was joined by first timer Kim Lamarre in bronze and last year's silver medalist Keri Herman in 2nd.

Men:1) JF Houle
2) Andreas Håtveit
3) James Woods

Women:1) Kaya Turski
2) Keri Herman
3) Kim Lamarre

Interesting fact: James Woods grew up skiing on dry slope in the UK until he was a teenager. That's the equivalent of learning how to fly planes by flying kites. Impressive.

The Dumont Cup, the East Coast's biggest open event, was founded on discovering new talent, something the long-defunct US Open used to do. And with past winners like Tom Wallisch and Alex Schlopy, discover talent it did. This year was no different as 16-year-old Nick Goepper walked away with the hardware. Battling high winds, Goepper was joined on the podium by AFP Overall Champion Gus Kenworthy and Swedish star Jacob Wester.

The 2011 Dumont Cup highlights.

Men:

1) Nick Goepper
2) Gus Kenworthy
3) Jacob Wester

Interesting fact: Every year the Dumont Cup course gets longer, this year growing by 50-percent and incorporating a second run for the rail section.

Interesting fact: Andreas' backyard consists of two big jumps, two whole rails lines, snowmobiles, snowcats and a drop in serviced by an elevator. Not bad for a town in Norway that has 57 (give or take) residents.

And at last, we've come to the final slopestyle of the year. The course was big, fast and mean, but it didn't deter the competitors, as Bobby Brown and Kaya Turski win in the revamped World Ski Invitational. In addition to the contest, the AFP Titles were on the line. Both Brown and Turski, with their wins, secured the AFP Slopestyle titles for the 2010-11 season. Congrats to all the competitors, you're done competing… for a few months.

L-r: Gus Kenworthy, Bobby Brown, Tom Wallisch

Men:1) Bobby Brown
2) Tom Wallisch
3) Gus Kenworthy

Women:1) Kaya Turski
2) Ashley Battersby
3) Anna Segal

Interesting fact: Bobby Brown and Kaya Turski were almost mathematical locks to win the AFP titles. Without Russ Henshaw or Sammy Carlson, Bobby needed not come in last place to win. Kaya needed one more result on her sheet, a 17th or better, to take the title. I guess her win garnered her enough points.

About the Author

Shay Williams

Shay Williams is the former Managing Editor of Freeskier Magazine. He now works full-time with Monster Energy, and continues to contribute to freeskier.com, offering insights re: the lives of his Monster athletes.